School of Practice

It started with a student writing a joke on a sticky note: “I hope we have no tests this year.” Five years later, high school teacher Jodie Deinhammer’s science classroom remains test-free—and her students are still learning and retaining the content at a fast clip. In this episode, host Kristin Leong talks with Jodie… Read more

Have you ever had a lesson get derailed by a power struggle with a student? Or is there a student in your class who you got off on the wrong foot with, and you’re not sure of the best way to repair the relationship? In this episode of School of Practice, ELA teacher Tyler Rablin shares some of his favorite classroom… Read more

Did you know that drawing can be a learning superpower—even for students who claim they’re not good at it? Research shows that when kids attentively sketch something they’re learning about, they tap into the visual, kinesthetic, and linguistic parts of their brains. This generates rich connections across the brain’s… Read more

Everyone makes mistakes—including teachers. While educators are quick to reframe student mistakes through a growth mindset lens, they’re less forgiving when it comes to their own slipups. But teacher errors often follow familiar patterns and can be a source of exceptional personal and professional growth. In this… Read more

Like a lot of other educators, Nicholas Ferroni is trying to find his way back to a time before technology was the default classroom mode. He thinks he was a better teacher back then—and kids acted more like kids. Last year, Nick published a viral Instagram post in which he pledged to go back to basics in his… Read more

Before there’s curriculum or calendars or lesson plans, there’s the classroom space itself, stripped of last year’s posters and anchor charts. Where should teachers begin? We’ve got the answers. In this back-to-school episode, editors Youki Terada and Steve Merrill review over 30 high-quality studies on classroom… Read more

How do you lay the foundation for real community in your classroom? Teachers know (and the research supports this) that when kids feel safe and connected in school, they’re better equipped to focus on learning. The start of a new school year is a crucial time for this type of work – and it goes beyond icebreakers. In… Read more

Do you want to build a vibrant classroom community this year, but you’re not sure where to start? Research shows it’s well worth the effort—and the first week of school is the perfect time to lay that foundation. When students feel a strong sense of belonging at school, they tend to be more motivated to learn and… Read more

Teaching is hard (often draining) work, and educators’ instincts about what will bring relief are frequently wrong—just as they are for most people. That’s because our minds deceive us, says cognitive scientist and Yale professor Laurie Santos, one of the world’s leading researchers on well-being and happiness. “One… Read more

What’s your take on eliminating zeros from the grade book? Does your school have a no-zeros grading policy? Even if it doesn’t, you probably have opinions about it. Setting 50% as the minimum grading threshold is a well-meaning effort to more accurately assess student learning, but it can also create new—and… Read more

The end of the school year can feel like the best––and worst––of times. On the one hand, it’s a great stretch because “the routines and procedures are set,” and the kids have their sights set on summer vacation, says Kansas City-based middle school ELA teacher Jeremiah Kim. But the workload for teachers closing out… Read more

It’s a mistake to assume that good differentiation always means splitting students up into small groups, says Michael McDowell, an author, coach, and former teacher. A more effective approach, he says, is to design rigorous learning routines that unite the whole class—from fast finishers to kids who need extra… Read more

Have you ever delivered a lesson and felt your students were acing it, only to revisit the same information a week later and realize hardly any of the new content stuck? You just came up against the forgetting curve—and lost. Our brains are hardwired to forget things unless we take active steps to remember. According… Read more

Can your students spot what’s real and what’s AI-generated on TikTok and Instagram? How about when they’re researching topics for humanities classes, gathering sources in social studies, and preparing for math assessments? In this super-engaging lesson developed by science teacher Katie Coppens and researcher and… Read more

Narrow, rigid math has “turned students off for generations,” says renowned researcher and Stanford mathematics professor Jo Boaler. Yet teachers often don’t have much choice when it comes to math curriculum—what’s mandated by a school or district is what they need to teach. That’s where *rich tasks* can be… Read more

Getting scaffolding right—amid the messy reality of teaching 30+ students at different skill levels—is one of the toughest challenges in teaching. Done well, it looks like tactical magic: teachers seamlessly know how and when to support kids, then step back at just the right moment, building independence by removing… Read more

Maybe you’ve seen it in your classroom: Students who zip through chapters but then can’t tell you much about what they just read. To move those kids from fluency to sense-making, you’ve got to teach them the habits of good independent readers. In this episode of School of Practice, educator and literacy specialist… Read more

Have you ever been shocked when your students bomb a unit test after weeks of seemingly locked-in learning? Veteran educator Jay McTighe has the ultimate research-backed solution: formative assessment. In the best-case scenario, it’s frequent, quick, and highly attuned to the content and your students. “You don’t want… Read more

Did you know there’s a strong connection between the hand and the neural circuitry of the brain? As students learn to write letters by hand, they also learn to recognize them more fluently. This letter recognition leads to greater letter-writing fluency, which leads to stronger overall reading development.… Read more

It’s a tricky (but very common) classroom dilemma: How do you talk about—and normalize—learning accommodations in class without singling anyone out in front of peers? Unfortunately, many teachers aren’t trained to have these sensitive conversations, so they’re figuring it out on the fly. But we’re here to help! In… Read more

Are you curious what the latest research reveals about everything from brain breaks to groundbreaking research on AI, cell phones, and handwriting in the classroom? Then you won’t want to miss this special year-end bonus episode based on one of our most popular feature articles of the year. In the latest episode of… Read more

When students take notes during a lesson, research shows they get just about 30 to 45 percent of the important information right on the first try. High school teacher Benjamin Barbour discovered this disturbing problem after taking a quick peek at his students’ notes midway through whole-group instruction. What he saw… Read more

“I’m done, what’s next?” In every classroom, a handful of students will finish the work at warp speed. While the rest of the class is still mid-task, teachers must quickly pivot to keep the fast finishers busy, without missing an instructional beat. Former K-12 teacher Todd Finley argues this challenge presents a… Read more

The idea that you’re not a writer unless you stare down a blank page and produce text—that’s about to change, says high school teacher Jen Roberts. In her classroom, AI is not the enemy. It’s a tool she uses to help students become better writers. And yes, she sets guardrails. “You can be a real writer who started… Read more

Did you know that drawing can be a learning superpower—even for students who claim they’re not good at it? When kids attentively sketch something they’re learning about, they tap into the visual, kinesthetic, and linguistic parts of the brain, research shows. This generates abundant connections across the brain’s… Read more

Humans are social creatures, hardwired to take cues from others. If students don’t see classmates asking for help, they assume they should avoid it too. But when help-seeking becomes visible in the classroom, it starts to feel natural. In this episode of School of Practice, high school teacher Cathleen Beachboard… Read more

After trying numerous seating arrangements—including rows, blocks, and U shapes—educator Jay Schauer stumbled on a desk layout that outperformed them all. Edutopia’s community took notice. In this episode of School of Practice, Schauer walks listeners through the many benefits of arranging desks in L-shaped groups,… Read more

It’s a powerful, non-verbal classroom management tool designed to curb off-task behavior without breaking the flow of learning. Here’s how to use it across grade levels. Crystal Frommert has been using “the look” in her classroom for 20 years. She says the tactic—a skeptical glance and an arched eyebrow directed at a… Read more

School of Practice, the first podcast from the team at Edutopia, brings you ready-to-use strategies to improve your teaching today. Join us for 15-minute episodes filled with smart, pedagogy-shifting advice—backed by research and test-driven by teachers just like you.